Can or jar.



PATENTED DEC. 22, 1903.

0.. W. MILLETT.

CAN 0R J AR. APPLICATION rum) we. a, 1902.

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PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. MILLETT, OFCANAJOHARIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO WILLIAM H. HONISS AND WILLIAM A. LORENZ, OF HARTFORD,CONNECTICUT, AND BEECH-NUT PACKING COMPANY, OF CANAJOHARIE, NEW YORK, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CAN OR JAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 747,461, dated December22, 1903.

Application filed August 6, 1902 Serial No. 118,596. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES W. MILLETT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Canajoharie, in the county of Montgomery and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in Cans orJars, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hermetically-sealed cans andjars of the class employed for the packing of foods and other materialsto exclude the air therefrom.

My preferred embodiment of thisinvention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in.

which Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a side view showing the cap andgasket in section, taken'through the center of Fig. 1, in closed orsealed position. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the jar,cap, and gasket of Fig. 2, but showing the cap in its position beforesealing. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the cap and gasket in sealedposition.

Jars of this class are commonly provided with a circumferential groovesemicircular in cross-section for receiving and locating the gasket inproper. position prior to the final sealing operation, and these jarsrequire the employment of a gasket considerably larger in cross-sectionthan would otherwise be required in proportion to'the size of the gasketand the consequent cross-sectional area of the gasket required to fillthe groove. Moreover, after such a gasket is compressed by the sealingoperation the lower edge of the gasket is usually exposed to theatmosphere to a considerable extent, while its upper edge is exposed tocontact with the contents of the jar, both of which exposures are liableto have a destructive effect upon the material of which these gasketsare usually composed, so that in course of time the value of the gasketas a sealing medium. becomes seriously impaired.

The principal object of the present invention is to enable a gasketextremely small in cross-section to be employed upon jars of this class,while yet providing a seal which shall hold the vacuum for asufficiently long time to be commercially successful. I accomplish thisobject by the use of a jar and cap which fit together closely both aboveand below the gasket-seat and providing the jar and the cap with narrowcircu mferential shoulders which compress the gasket between them as thecap is forced down in the sealing operation. The cap and jar fittogether so closely both above and below the gasket that the latter ispractically confined to the shoulders, and therefore is not deformed toan appreciable extent above or below the gasket-seat. By this plan alsoboth the air and the contents of the jar are substantially excluded fromcontact with the gasket or at least are confined to so small a portionthereof as to be practically free from injurious efiects.

The upper or mouth portion of the jar 10 is formed with a cylindricalneck 11, which is smaller in diameter than the upper and substantiallycylindrical portion 12 of the jarbody by the extent of the interveningnarrow circumferential shoulder 14, which forms a sealing-seat forcompressing the gasket 13, that shoulder being preferably slightlyrounded, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A flexible metallic cap 16 isemployed for closing the mouth of the jar and is provided with a rim theinner contour of which substantially agrees with the described contourof the top of the jar, so that the cylindrical zones 17 and 19substantially fit the corresponding portions 11 and 12, respectively, ofthe jar, and the circumferential shoulder 18 between these two zonescooperates with the shoulder 14 of the jar to compress the gasket, thecap being by this construction free to move only in a longitudinaldirection in reference to thejar.

Prior to the sealing operation the gasket 13 is placed around the neck11 adjacent to the sealing seat or shoulder 14, and the cap is placed inposition, as shown in Fig. 3. The jar is then placed in or connectedwith a suitable receiver,by means of which the required vacuum isobtained within the jar, after which the cap is pressed down to seal thejar, and thus maintain the vacuum obtained therein. As the cap is thuspressed down the gasket 13 is compressed between the shoulder 18 of thecap and the shoulder 14 of the jar, and inasmuch as the shoulders arecomparatively narrow the total amount of pressure which is exerted uponthe cap by atmospheric pressure or otherwise is concentrated upon thenarrow circumferential zone to which the gasket is confined, as shown inFig. 4, thus increasing the security of the seal. Furthermore, thisconfining of the gasket prevents it from being distended or deformed toany appreciable extent either upwardly between the zone 17 of the capand the portion 11 of the jar or downwardly between the zone 19 of thecap and the portion 12 of the jar.

Highly satisfactory results have been obtained with a jar and cap ofthis invention in which the shoulder corresponding to the shoulders 14and 18 were as narrow as one sixty-fourth of an inch and where thegasket itself was not larger than one thirty-second of an inch square incross-section. Such a jar and cap and gasket has maintained its hermeticseal for several months. The sizes and proportions of the shoulders andof the gasket may, however, be varied and should be adapted to theconditions of the service required.

In cans and jars of this class the cost of the gasket bears a very largeproportion to the cost of the complete package, which is the termapplied to the combined jar, cap, and gasket. The gaskets for this classof cans and jars are usually made to a greater or less extent of a goodquality of rubber, which is always expensive; hence the importance inpoint of economy of reducing the size of the gasket, since the amount ofthe material, and consequently the cost thereof,are therebycorrespondingly reduced. This reduction in the size of the gasket isattended with a correspending increase in the importance of protectingthe gasket from the deteriorating action of the atmosphere on one sideand the contents of the jar on the other side of the gasket. By thisinvention the injurious action referred to is substantially prevented,while the entire area of the gasket is brought within and thus madeavailable for the compressing action, thus also avoiding the waste ofthe additional gasket material, which in other forms of sealing-jointsis required to fill out the gasket-groove or is distended or deformedinto the more or less open joints between the cap and the neck of thejar.

I claim as my invention- 1. A jar provided with a cylindrical neck, aprojecting shoulder adjacent to and below said neck, a gasket, and a capprovided with a rim substantially fitting the cylindrical neck andfitting the jar below the shoulder, and having a circumferentialshoulder for compressing the gasket against the shoulder of the jar.

2. A jar provided with a cylindrical neck, a projecting shoulderadjacent to and below said neck, and having a cylindrical contour belowthe shoulder, a gasket and a cap provided with a rim substantiallyfitting the cylindrical neck and fitting the cylindrical contour belowthe shoulder, and having a circumferential shoulder for compressing thegasket against the shoulder of the jar.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 4th day of August, 1902.

CHAS. W. MILLETT.

